Is a hotel credit card right for you?

Picking up a gallon of milk at the store? Taking in the car for that long overdue oil change? Every dollar you spend on mundane purchases such as these – no matter where, no matter when – could be bringing you that much closer to a free resort stay in Hawaii. (Or maybe you see yourself somewhere else on your next vacation. That’s cool. We don’t judge.) Hotel chains around the globe are also in the credit card business, and, considering how many travel reward credit cards are out there, you can bet it’s a competitive scene.

Whether you’re a frequent traveler or merely strive to be one, every dollar you put on a credit card can and should be earning you travel rewards. It’s that simple. Stay disciplined and use the card for every possible purchase, whether it’s coffee at your favorite café or a tank of four-dollar gas, and you’d be surprised at how quickly the rewards can rack up. To tempt you in, these cards tend to have great signing bonuses – some greater than others, of course – that get you on your way to free hotel stays almost instantly.

Sounds great, you say, but what’s the catch? Unlike general rewards cards, with the branded cards, loyalty is a must to get the most out of your spending. Second, make sure there isn’t an overly steep annual fee for the card – if you’re not going to offset it with rewards, then maybe a more general reward card (or at least one without an annual fee) is best for you.

And, of course, read the fine print. As with any credit card, if you travel overseas frequently, make sure there aren’t any potentially prohibitive charges that pop up when using the card internationally.

When choosing allegiance to a hotel brand like Marriott or Hilton, first make sure that you’re covered in the destinations that you visit regularly – or would like to visit regularly. Better still – and we shouldn’t have to say this, but we will anyway – make sure that the hotels in these destinations are actually desirable, by using traveler-review sites like TripAdvisor. There are destinations where you’d expect your favored brand to have good coverage and a strong reputation, but then you take a closer look and find out – oops! – that they don’t.

It’s also important to evaluate the point system. How are you being rewarded for your loyalty? And how well? Say a card gives you 60,000 bonus points for signing up. What does that actually mean? Are bonus points as valuable as regular points? If a night at a decent hotel within the group runs you 25,000 points or more, that 60,000 points isn’t exactly an embarrassment of riches. Of course, each rewards program is structured differently. Which leads us to …

Get to know the rewards system. Really well. The more you know, the better you can assess just how much a card is worth to you. Let’s take a look at Marriott for example. Say you stay at a property for $119 per night. You’re walking away with 1,190 points; more if you have elevated status. Redemption with Marriott starts at 7,500 points per night for its lowest tier hotels – sometimes you’ll be lucky enough to find these at as low as 6,000, through Marriott’s PointSavers program. Taking into account Marriott’s Fifth Night Free deal, if you strike it right, you’re looking at nearly 10 free nights with the 50,000 points you will get when you sign up for the Marriott Rewards Visa. That’s a lot of free hotel.

If your objective is to just get free stuff, a hotel credit card is definitely for you. But if you like your free stuff on the fancy side, you’ll have to give it much more of a workout to fund your dream vacation. After all, 7,500 points won’t get you into the Ritz-Carlton, the brand that sits on top of the Marriott heap. For example, a night at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii, is 50,000 points. That’s a lot of milk and oil changes. In these cases, a more general rewards card might be better for you.

Nothing is forever, and neither should your credit card be. Get it, get the benefits, have fun, but know when it’s time to walk – even if it means switching loyalty to a new chain, or branching out to a general rewards card, or an airline-branded card. Introductory deals are great, but keep close tabs on your rewards and make sure that when it’s time to seek greener pastures – or the next great deal – that you don’t miss the opportunity. There are many other fish in the sea.

For a close look at some popular hotel brand cards, check out this handy chart from Airfarewatchdog.com.

George Hobica is the founder of Airfarewatchdog.com. Airfarewatchdog features the best airfares on thousands of routes verified by a team of expert fare analysts.